Air India CEO Campbell Wilson today admitted that the airlines' could have reacted better to the incident of a drunk flyer urinating on an elderly passenger.
"There are things that we didn't do well. We have learnt lessons," Air India CEO told NDTV in an exclusive interview.
On a New York-Delhi Air India flight on November 26, Shankar Mishra allegedly unzipped his pants and urinated on an elderly woman in the business class. He later begged the woman not to report him to the police, saying it would impact his wife and child.
Air India filed a police complaint weeks after the incident and said as there was "no further flare-up or confrontation", and "respecting the perceived wishes of the female passenger, the crew elected not to summon law enforcement upon landing. It banned Mishra from flying for 30 days, triggering outrage by social media users who said it was not enough.
Shankar Mishra was arrested by the Delhi Police on Friday, six weeks after the incident.
Mr Wilson told NDTV that the airlines has realised the importance of reporting incidents.
"One of the key things is reporting incidents that happen. Perhaps there was a culture before where things we tried to resolve internally rather than reporting. Perhaps," Mr Wilson said.
AdvertisementElaborating on the steps that the airlines has taken after the November incident, Mr Wilson said that they have reviewed their alcohol policy and also briefed their staff about how to deal with drunk passengers.
He also added that Air India is now investing more in technology. He said that in most cases, the airlines crew is at the receiving end when a drunk passenger misbehaves.
Advertisement"In the vast majority of cases, the people that suffer the abuse, be verbal, sometimes physical, are our crew. Not a day goes by, without us receiving some report from from crew on behavior on board the aircraft," Mr Wilson said.
